KUALA LUMPUR: The new Army had in his first meeting with the Press after taking as the PTD last May had said that the Army was reviewing the soldier’s personal equipment needs “from head to toe” and this will see a marked improvement from previous years.
Lets hope in the midst of the Army’s renewal, the soldier’s personal equipment will be of the best that money can buy. With soldiers being the highest cost factor in the Army one has to wonder why we keep insisting that the procurement of the other stuff ranked higher than the personal equipment.
Yes the other Armies had also missed the boat on the personal equipment issue but we just need to look at the British Army as a guide. Read More
And the Brits is expected to issue more new kit in the year to come. Read it here
If we cannot use the British Army as a guide in terms of making the right choices, who else can our soldiers look forward to?
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (15)
Buang masa. First, right size the Army to something we can afford to equip, train and sustain.
Marhalim: I believe TD's current manpower is suitable although the budget does not reflect its needs...
Of the total number in the army one needs to check what its rifle strenght is and what the rest are doing. Another factor is how up too strength are the infantry battalions or are they short of manpower? As it is, there are only 3 battalions in Sabah to cover an area almost 2 1/2 times the size of Singapore! I would say it's not a question of downsizing but of restructuring and making the most out of what manpower we have.
Marhalim: Stan said rightsizing which I am not saying is wrong, the problem is that since it was calculated in WWII that it takes seven soldier to support ONE soldier on the front-line, I believed our numbers are already very low that we cannot downsize....its the amount of money that is available and the posture/doctrine the TD is currently entrenched in....
If we cannot afford the Army, it is not correctly sized. So simple. Everything else is BS.
Brother, how to get the rightsizing when there is no approved Defense Policy and what sort of military posture do we really want-what sort of military strategy do the Armed Forces really has in mind in order to defense the nation.
So at the end of the day everything become "cacamerba" and come new chief, there will be new thing in the line and who is doing the thinking or at least guiding the MAF-the CDF? the service chiefs or the minister? Everyone "syok sendiri ba" and walking around look important and it continues to be a big waste.
Good move by the new Army leadership to re-equip the soldiers.My immediate list would be as follows:
1. Smart-looking Egyptian cotton working- uniforms with good quality beret/headgear
2. Loose fitting Egyptian cotton Celoreng for field/jungle work.
3. Battle proven Webbing Gear (suggest study the US military Webbing Gear in Afghanistan).
3. Smart looking sports gear (top-brand type)
3. Light Combat boots for Jungle warfare
4. Latest Night vision goggles
5. Battle-proven helmet and armour vest
6. Rain-proofed poncho
8. Military multi-media/voice encrypted mobile phones for Section Commanders (Squad level)and above.
The financial cost will be high but is worth every sen since it will contribute to high morale among the rank-and-file.
The rakyat meaning to say, the MPs should voice their support in the next Parliamentary sessions.
Marhalim: PRR should also be distributed down to the squad level. Gears should be COTS. Hope is eternal....
I would suggest that the Singaporean Advanced Combat Man System or the US Land Warrior as the base model to re-equip our soldier. But I believe that Digital Cam should as part of the program.
Marhalim: I dont think the Singaporean system would be even considered, perhaps the French one by Sagem has been suggested to me as the favourite for the Malaysian Army FSS. Anyway a FSS is just part of the personal equipment ensemble, we should not sent soldiers into combat with million dollar FSS while at the same time wearing awful, foot breaking boots....
The Singaporean Advanced Combat Man and U.S. Land Warrior are for countries that have already addressed other priorities and incidently would cost many thousands of ringgit to equip each soldier. Not for countries like Malaysia who have a very long list of immediate prorities to be addressed.
Lets start off with ensuring that each of our M4's that are issued to infantry battalions have a decent sight before we get carried away by fanciful terms like 'Advanced Combat Man' and 'Land Warrior''.
Marhalim: Decent jungle boots....
Agreed Marhalim, decent boots [not necessary jungle boots though as I believe any future conflicts with an external party would be fought largely in urban areas]. The boots that the army was issued in the 80's was basically a copy of the US jungle boots issued for Vietnam and was also issued to the various school cadet corps here. looked nice but was very uncomfortable. Recently some policeman in K.L. have been seen wearing newly issued leather shiny boots. For what reason I'm unsure as they don't need them.
Marhalim: Yes it seemed that the police are getting good boots for their men...the Army remained a distant cousin...
And the police even get a new awesome uniform in 2008 which look so cool to me. See below:-
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/26/nation/20750152&sec=nation
Not to forget the Maritime Malaysia also uses the Digital Camo similar to the US Universal Camouflage Pattern.
Marhalim: MMEA bought those uniforms COTS. The Army tender out its uniform contract, and the same company always win for some reason or the other....